Borden and his son Scott were excited for Friday's show, billed as Steamboat's largest ever, in which 576 fireworks were scheduled to go off at the same time during the finale.

But after hundreds of pyrotechnics lit up the night skies over Howelsen, a muted, erratic finale left many spectators wondering what cut the display short.

The fireworks are set off electrically, and Borden said he is unsure exactly what went wrong Friday, but that when the finale was cued, the fireworks just didn't go off.

Small fires at Mile Run, one of the four launch sites during Friday night's fireworks show, also prevented some fireworks from firing correctly - and the flames themselves set off additional fireworks out of sequence, Borden said. The fireworks at two other launch sites failed to go off at all during the finale, Borden said.

"Most people that know the kind of show we put on realized there was a problem," Borden said. "I pretty much prided myself in having a great finale, and this pretty much was not."

The Bordens, owners and directors of First National Bank of Steamboat Springs, organize and execute the annual fireworks display. Tim Borden holds federal licenses that allow him to purchase and display fireworks. The city allocates $10,000 annually for the show - an amount matched by another $10,000 from five sponsors - but Tim Borden buys more than $100,000 worth of fireworks wholesale from China every few years.

Last week, the Bordens said this year's show would include 3,000 fireworks, 30 percent more than last year. But the increase in size also created logistical problems Friday night.

"We added about 5,000 or 6,000 additional mortars, or fireworks - technically, it creates a lot of difficulties," Borden said.

The fireworks that did not go off will be saved for the next fireworks show for the city.

Fireworks were wonderful!
Would love to know who is in charge of cleaning up the trash and debris from the launch site? I was hiking this A.M and was surprised to see that it has not been cleaned up. There is ton's of trash blowing all over the mtn.

"Tim Borden buys more than $100,000 worth of fireworks wholesale from China every few years". SURE hope none of you are the hypocrites that whine about how much the middle class spends on goods from China.